(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Media personality Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic, announced that he is running for the Democratic ticket in 2024. Exotic, known for his role in the Netflix documentary “Tiger King,” previously said he intended to run as Libertarian but said the Libertarian Party had views he disagreed with.
“Libertarians just seem to do nothing but fight amongst themselves and their views are a little too far out there so running as a Democrat, I can — I can, you know, there’s not going to be one party that anybody is going to like,” Exotic told Fox News’ Lawrance Jones on Saturday. “I think I can make more of a difference debating and getting President Biden’s attention as a Democrat.
Maldonado filed to the Federal Election Commission in February 2023 to run as a presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party under the “Make America Exotic” slogan.
“You know, I believe in pro-choice. I believe in the Second Amendment. I still don’t believe that anybody under 21 should have an assault rifle,” he continued. “I believe in LGBTQ transgender things should not be happening to kids under 18. There’s views on every aisle that I agree with.”
Exotic did not shy away from slamming the Biden administration for its failures and countless mishaps. “His administration is the one who screwed me over and put me in here for an agenda to stop you from owning a tiger and petting a baby tiger, so all I’ve got to say to him, is karma’s a b—-,” he said.
Exotic joined a relatively uncrowded field of Democratic politicians seeking the 2024 nomination, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being the only leftist politician to formally announce a presidential bid against the incumbent president.
While Biden claimed he plans on running for re-election in 2024, he has declined to formally announce it, fueling rumors that he is inept to seek re-election. To reach young voters, the Biden White House courted TikTok influencers and other social media stars to promote Democratic talking points online, Axios reported on April 9.
The former reality star also offered a rare defense of former President Donald Trump after Soros-backed Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg indicted and arrested the former president over alleged hush payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels. While the payment in itself was not a crime, falsifying business documents related to the payments was, Bragg claimed.
“If the man broke the law, he needs to pay the price,” Exotic said. “No different than President Biden or Hunter Biden or Obama or anybody else. The system of two-party justice in this country with the rich and the poor, they’ve got to stop.”
The former reality star is currently behind bars serving a 22-year sentence for murder-for-hire and violations of the Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act. He was sentenced in January 2020, and it is known if he would be released before the Democratic primaries.